2019 Spring Training Starts

[Nick]

Pitching has been unbelievable. I hope we're not being teased.

[CWB3]

Pitching has been unbelievable. I hope we're not being teased.

Jmo, but I think Miami’s staff is helped by no longer having JTR call games. Never thought he was very good at it. Holaday is very good and I think Wallach’s fantastic. Unfortunately we haven’t seen much of Alfaro this spring, but I’m hopeful.

[lou]

Pitching has been unbelievable. I hope we're not being teased.

We aren't, you don't fake into these numbers.

But it's still a question if any of them go all "Clevinger" or if we're getting a lot of Urenas.

Three Urena's from Richards, Ca. Smith, and Pablo for what they paid to get those guys would be fantastic.

[fish16]

I really think they’ve taken the step of becoming 4’s who might be 3’s to 3’s that might be 2’s. This pitching is lights out and there is really nothing peripherally that makes any of this seem like a mirage. Legitimately dominant all spring. So excited for the regular season. Bats won’t be great but I can see this pitching carrying us to 70-75 wins this year with another step towards contention next year

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And before anyone says anything that 70 to 75 wins would be with a major improvement from brinson and Anderson taking a little bit of a next step

[lou]

I really think they’ve taken the step of becoming 4’s who might be 3’s to 3’s that might be 2’s. This pitching is lights out and there is really nothing peripherally that makes any of this seem like a mirage. Legitimately dominant all spring. So excited for the regular season. Bats won’t be great but I can see this pitching carrying us to 70-75 wins this year with another step towards contention next year

I would say spring training is a periphery, but developing multiple # 4 SP is not a bad thing. I'd slow the roll into thinking they are developing Clevinger and Berrios level SP.

Having a horde of CHEAP #4s to keep or trade is an amazing situation with Sixto and free agency money coming. As I keep saying, if they get one # 3 out of these guys, they are in serious business. Two and they hit it out of the park.

I'll also take a heavy under on 75 wins, but they'll win 63.

[fish16]

I would say spring training is a periphery, but developing multiple # 4 SP is not a bad thing. I'd slow the roll into thinking they are developing Clevinger and Berrios level SP.

Having a horde of CHEAP #4s to keep or trade is an amazing situation with Sixto and free agency money coming. As I keep saying, if they get one # 3 out of these guys, they are in serious business. Two and they hit it out of the park.

I'll also take a heavy under on 75 wins, but they'll win 63.

Ya 75 is on the high end. I could see them around 70 though. I think they are going to have a really nice surplus of arms to either use in the rotation, build out a bullpen, or just deal for bats which we likely will need down the road. We've got all of the guys fighting for spots now, Garrett and Rogers as former first rounders pitchng their first full year, Gallen, Neidert, Cabrera, Sixto, Stewart, Yamamoto, Dugger, Holloway. They look like they will have a ton of quality SP to choose from come 2020 and 2021.

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Are there any future contractual benefits towards keeping any of these rotation options down for a few weeks or a month or something like that? Especially Alcantara

[emkayseven]

I don't see anywhere close to 75. I still see 66ish. The bottom line is, if they're playing well enough to win 70-75, that means Granderson and Walker (and maybe Straily and Conley and Prado and Castro) are getting traded which causes a second half plummet. You also have to figure that for a lot of these guys (especially pitchers) this is going to be their first full season and they'll start to fade in the second half.

Pitching has been really encouraging, bats are worrisome though. Anderson looks like the real deal, but after Brinson's hot start he's been not very good, and we haven't really seen Alfaro yet. As far as I'm concerned guys like Cooper and O'Brien aren't core guys, they're guys you hope develop to the point where you can move them for another piece down the road. I'm not getting excited about those guys doing anything. It's Anderson, Brinson, Alfaro for me, maybe Dean, and wait out some of the younger guys.

[Nick]

Yeah I don't think 70 wins is in the cards. This is an all-time bad lineup, and I think the bullpen will struggle especially after we trade Romo. This season is about Brinson, Smith, Richards, Lopez and Alcantara establishing themselves in the big leagues, and Anderson maybe taking a step forward establishing himself as a true power threat to go with his professional approach at the plate. Rotation could be playoff caliber as soon as 2020, I could see them putting a quality bullpen together by then too, but the lineup is a long long way off. Everything goes perfect this year and you still have only 3 of those 8 spots filled going forward and very unlikely if any of those 3 are stars.

[Lee Stone]

The performance of The Three Amigos (Smith, Richards and Lopez) should come as no huge surprise. After getting their feet wet in the bigs last season, they are trending toward their most recent minor league numbers. Focusing on that threshold (low WHIP built on low BAA and darn few walks), there are two more on the way soon: Yamamoto and Dustin Beggs. The scoop on Beggs: https://marlinsminorsmlb.wordpress.c...-dustin-beggs/

[fauowls44]

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The #Marlins selected OF Curtis Granderson from NOLA; optioned OF Austin Dean to NOLA; and reassigned LHP Mike Kickham, RHP Héctor Noesí, & C Rodrigo Vigil to Minor League Camp. The 40-man roster is now full, and Miami has 39 players in MLB camp.

6:00 AM - 21 Mar 2019

I thought Dean would have been a lock, but he has options and Cooper also earned a spot.

[fish16]

Dean is very similar to Anderson in that he was an older prospect who broke out really quickly but will be limited unless he develops more power. Anderson has developed more power and can take a next step this year developing even more. O'Brien seems like the better option and Cooper has been phenomenal. This team might be the ultimate example of why spring training numbers dont matter or maybe we found a few more pieces that are more than expected.

So is the hitting group now-

C- Alfaro, Wallach/ Holaday
1b- walker/Cooper
2b- Starlin
ss- rojas/ Riddle
3b- Anderson
Lf- Granderson
Cf- Brinson
RF- O'Brien or Cooper platoon?

And then one more spot presumably for a backup CF? I dont like any of the backup CF options we really have in camp.

I think a Cooper and Walker platoon at 1b can actually be very productive. And O'briens minor league career power numbers and last year impress me and we have nothing really in terms of pure power guys currently or in the system. Maybe we get lucky and he becomes a nice power bat for a few years as a cheap find.

[Lee Stone]

Agree on Dean. He provided quality at bats throughout the spring. The point of entertaining the 38-year-old Granderson is lost on me. That will put Harrison back at Jacksonville, with Ramirez, Guerrero, and Dean as the everyday OF for the Cakes. On another note, keeping Herrera is a dismal prospect. Don't care how many positions he plays, he can't hit a lick. Don't know where they place Sierra.

[fauowls44]

Dean is very similar to Anderson in that he was an older prospect who broke out really quickly but will be limited unless he develops more power. Anderson has developed more power and can take a next step this year developing even more. O'Brien seems like the better option and Cooper has been phenomenal. This team might be the ultimate example of why spring training numbers dont matter or maybe we found a few more pieces that are more than expected.

So is the hitting group now-

C- Alfaro, Wallach/ Holaday
1b- walker/Cooper
2b- Starlin
ss- rojas/ Riddle
3b- Anderson
Lf- Granderson
Cf- Brinson
RF- O'Brien or Cooper platoon?

And then one more spot presumably for a backup CF? I dont like any of the backup CF options we really have in camp.

I think a Cooper and Walker platoon at 1b can actually be very productive. And O'briens minor league career power numbers and last year impress me and we have nothing really in terms of pure power guys currently or in the system. Maybe we get lucky and he becomes a nice power bat for a few years as a cheap find.

Did you forget Prado exists?

[fish16]

Agree on Dean. He provided quality at bats throughout the spring. The point of entertaining the 38-year-old Granderson is lost on me. That will put Harrison back at Jacksonville, with Ramirez, Guerrero, and Dean as the everyday OF for the Cakes. On another note, keeping Herrera is a dismal prospect. Don't care how many positions he plays, he can't hit a l lick.

Agree on Herrera, but it seems like he will be the Rivera type guy who is just on the roster because he can play CF but doesnt ever play. We just dont have any other options left in camp unless im forgetting someone.

Granderson can still play, and it allows us to not have to rush any of these prospects. Harrison should be repeating AA i hope to start the year. No need to rush him just let him try to improve the plate discipline as much as possible and master the level.

[lou]

Agree on Dean. He provided quality at bats throughout the spring. The point of entertaining the 38-year-old Granderson is lost on me. That will put Harrison back at Jacksonville, with Ramirez, Guerrero, and Dean as the everyday OF for the Cakes. On another note, keeping Herrera is a dismal prospect. Don't care how many positions he plays, he can't hit a l lick.

Granderson has an .800 OPS the last 2 years against RHP, and it is good to have an older veteran around to be the dad of the team when there are a bunch of kids. Of course, there may be multiple redundancies there with Prado and Walker, but hey?

Dean doesn't need to be rushed. This lineup is fine:

Alfaro, Wallach
Walker, Prado
Castro
Riddle, Rojas
Anderson
Granderson
Brinson
O'Brien, Cooper

With ideally Prado (or O'Brien) DFA'd for a real CF at some point quickly.